Staying up to date with web technology can turn into a full-time job. You have to find this stuff interesting to make it a daily habit.
What’s up guys! It’s Carlton Stith from CeeJayS Media and I’m back with another web design and development post. If you’re a web designer or currently studying to become one, then you might find yourself wondering how to stay current. I know just as well as you do that web development is a fast moving field that can be pretty difficult to keep up with. You can subscribe to a handful of newsletters and podcasts or follow some cool people on Twitter, but it still seems like that’s not enough, right? I agree. Well, fear no more guys. I’m here to give you a peek at who I bookmark, receive newsletters from and/or subscribe to on iTunes.
The Web Technology Dilemma
I find myself struggling trying to keep up with what’s new on the web dev front while simultaneously juggling a family life, full time job and whatever other things I may have going on. Web technology stuff changes so fast nowadays. What preprocessor should I learn first? What’s the best way to add support for IE? I often find it pretty challenging to keep myself knowledgeable. I am often overwhelmed so I thought you guys might feel the same way.
Unfortunately, there isn’t one place we can visit to get all of the news that we need.
Here are several web technology, design and development blogs/podcasts that I read often or subscribe to. I am only going to list five but there are many more out there. If I didn’t mention your favorite blog, let me know.
Web Design Blogs I Visit Daily
1. CSS-Tricks (blog) – http://css-tricks.com/
CSS-Tricks is a web design and blog community written and managed by @chriscoyier.
CSS Tricks is a blog that is written by @chriscoyier. This place is like the mecca of web development as far as I’m concerned. What makes this blog so great is the level of intensity that goes into it. I’m not sure how Chris manages to post so often but the tenacity gives me my daily inspirational juice to keep writing myself. I’ve learned so much just by perusing this site everyday that I would highly recommend it.
2. Shop Talk Show (podcast) – http://shoptalkshow.com/
@chriscoyier and @davetron3000 host this weekly podcast about web design and web development. Each week they feature a guest. Past guests have included @danielmall, @davidwalshblog and @zeldman. On occasional weeks, they may have something called a “Rapid Fire Show” where the show has no guests. For the entire duration of the show, Chris and Dave answer questions left by the listeners. The show is very entertaining.
3. A List Apart (blog) – http://alistapart.com/
A List Apart is a extremely well-written blog for people who build websites.
The @alistapart is another blog for web designers and developers. Web design best practices and standards are the primary focus of each published article. It began in 1997 as a mailing list and eventually morphed into a website. A List Apart was put together by Jeffrey Zeldman and Brian Platz with the intentions of only publishing insightful and intelligent articles. Bookmark this site immediately, if you haven’t done so already.
4. Creative Bloq (blog) – http://www.creativebloq.com/
@CreativeBloq is a blog that hosts more articles than you could ever imagine. This is another great resource, if you have room for one more bookmark. From graphic design to helping you find a job, these guys have got you covered.
5. Codrops – http://tympanus.net/codrops/
Codrops is a blog maintained by @crnacura, @o_telho and @SaraSoueidan. This blog features some really awesome examples of experiments with CSS3. The articles, tutorials and demos that are featured are more than enough to keep a developer satisfied for days on end.
Find as many sources of information as possible to expand your knowledge.
This is just the tip of the Iceberg
There are more ways than this that you can keep up-to-date with the latest in web technology. There are conferences, meetups, social networking (both in person and online), etc. You should focus on following the people your field and just try to get some knowledge from them. For instance, I have my favorite guys so I will follow them on Twitter, GitHub, CodePen, Dribbble, etc. That might seem like a lot, but the web as a whole isn’t small at all.
For some super-awesome guys that are doing it way big in your field and follow them.
Well that’s it (for now at least). Did I miss your favorite blog or podcast? If I did, just drop me a line and let me know. This list is certainly not exhaustive and I subscribe/read/follow way more blogs than I mentioned here.
As always folks, thanks for reading. I am @carltonstith on Twitter talking about web dev stuff or just rambling about stuff. I’m on Facebook too if you want to like me there. Until next time…